Four teams in the Henry County area continue their quest for a state championship in softball today in Columbus.

In Class AAAAA, Ola (30-7) squares off against Pope (28-9).

The Lady Mustangs have won their last seven games and advanced to this point with a sweep of Ware County on Oct. 23. After edging the Lady Gators, 2-1 in nine innings, in the opening game of the series, Ola scored five runs in the first inning on the way to an 8-0 win.

On the same day, the Lady Greyhounds swept Heritage-Conyers to stay alive and move a little closer to returning to the title-game series, which they lost to Union Grove last year.

“These are two different seasons,” Pope softball coach Chris Turco said. “We graduated some good seniors so this is a different group with a different mindset. Our goal was to get to Columbus and then try to win when we got here not make up for what we lost last year.”

This will be Pope and Ola’s first meeting. The Lady Mustangs are 12-4 in neutral site games and the Lady Greyhounds are 14-2.

“We want to win the first one and keep the momentum going,” Turco said. “Making it through a hostile environment at Heritage Conyers was a watershed moment for us and I think it set us up to do well in Columbus.”

In Class AAAA, Woodland (31-7) takes on Madison County (33-2).

On Oct. 23, the Lady Wolfpack defeated Cross Creek 5-1 and 9-1 to punch their ticket to Columbus. Meanwhile, the Lady Red Raiders took out Alexander 6-3 and 11-0 to advance.

Madison County, which lost to Northwest Whitfield in the championship game last year, has won 10 straight games and Woodland has won its last seven.

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